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24th February, 2008
I am enjoying my stay here in Iowa with
Mollie Moore. Iowa is very different from Japan. One example is the
snow. They have snow that is about 1 meter and 50 centimeters tall.
It is very cold but the snow is fun to play in. Mollie's house is
bigger than the houses in Japan. We did many fun things together.
When I got to Mollie's house, I unpacked my suitcase and gave Mollie
a Yukata, some bookmarks, some chopsticks for her whole family, some
erasers, and some white out markers. Mollie loved them very much. We
got dressed in Yukata and it was difficult because it was too big.
Then for dinner me and Mollie and her mom made some pizza. I liked
it very much. Mollie has a video game called the Wii and we played
it together. Mollie was trying to say some Japanese words but she
couldn't and it was very funny. We went to bed at 10:30 and woke up
at 7:30. Mollie's family went to church but me and Mollie stayed
home to rest and we made brownies and she told me about her house.
She has a cupboard called a lazy-susan and it is a cabinet that
holds food and it spins around. When Mollie's family got home from
church, they brought some sandwiches home from a restaurant called
Subway. It was delicious. Then we went and played out in the snow.
Mollie and her brother, Marcus, jumped off their deck and fell 2
meters then hit the snow. I couldn't jump because I was too scared.
After we played in the snow, we came inside and did origami. We made
many things with Mollie, her brothers Matthew and Marcus, and
Matthew's girlfriend Jessi. After Origami we went to Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart is bigger in Iowa than Japan. We ate Ramen noodles for
dinner with the chopsticks. Mollie couldn't hold the chopsticks the
right way so she held one chopstick in each hand. She was funny. We
put on some of Mollie's dresses and chose the dress we will wear for
the dance at Mollie's school.
Erica, Grade 7 |
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Dressing up for a dance.
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Eating with chopsticks is harder than it
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Iowa has A LOT of snow! |
Iowa has SNOW! |
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24th February, 2008
February 23rd: Our Gyoshu Junior &
Senior High School students got on to the airplane and 11 hours
later, we arrived to Chicago. After that, we got on to a little
airplane and 2 hours later, we arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Then,
we met our host families. After that, I went to my buddy's
(Courtney) grandma and grandpa's house to stay 1 night. I ate a
dinner in a fast food restaurant called "Subway" I selected the
chicken breast with a ranch sauce and it was really really
delicious! Then I went back to grandpa and grandma's house and
Coutney's cousin, Zaya came. He was really "noisy" but cute! I
finally went to bed at 12:00 p.m. It was a long day! (It's very cold
and icy in Iowa.)
February 24th: Today, I got up at 10:00 a.m. and ate something
called "Steve's Fluffy Waffles." It was good. This food is called
Steve's fluffy waffles because, my host family's dad is called Steve
and he made us a waffle. Then we went home and we ate a homemade
hamburger. After we ate a homemade hamburger, Courtney and I went
shopping and bought bread. There was much snow and my feet got stuck
when I walked. When we finished the meal, we went to volleyball
court (gym) to see the host mother and father to play a volleyball
game. It was a tired day.
February 25th: Today, was a first day of the school and the lunch
was so-so but it was another fun day. I met my Japanese friends too.
We finished the school early.
Anri, Grade 7 |
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25th February,
2008
Hello Dr Bostwick. It is cold in Iowa.
There is a lot of snow!!! We made a snowman and we went sledding!!
On the second day in Iowa we ate at Subway!! It was good!
Today was the second day for school. Vernon has P.E. class
everyday!! We played soccer today. It was a fun day!!!
My host family made pasta for me. We ate it at supper!! It was
delicious!!
After supper, I made scrapbook with Ellen!! It was fun to make the
scrapbook!! We also made s'mores!! It was delicious too!! I'm
sending photos of the sledding, our snowman and my hostfamily and
me.
Shinoka, Grade 7 |
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My buddy and host family.
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Sledding with my buddy is FUN! |
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An Iowa snowman! |
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26th February, 2008
I'm Yuka! My buddy and I commute to
school everyday. And we go to school by bus.
Yesterday we had a Social Study's test!! Today our test came back!!
I got a bad score!!
It's my first time to come to IOWA I'm
very nervous but Americans are very kind to Gyoushu Junior High
School students!!
I`m glad to see IOWA peoples!
\(^u^)/\(>w<) /
About photo: My camera is a disposable camera so I can't send my
pictures so if I return to Japan I will show a my pictures!!!
Yuka, Grade 7 |
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27th February, 2008
Today, I went to school with my buddy.
We watched a basketball game after school. My buddy also has a
dancing lesson so I went with her. My buddy is very good at dancing.
I have a nice day!
Yurika, Grade 7 |
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28th February, 2008
I have so much fun in Iowa. Aminah’s
friends are so kind and funny. Her family is so kind too. Aminah
sister's name is Meleah. Some classes are difficult for me. But,
some teachers are nice. I had “Learning Strategies”, “Health”, “P.E”,
“Social studies”, “ Language Art”, “Math”, “Science”, “Reading “ and
“A/A”. Today, we had dance party. I and Aminah really enjoyed!!! The
music was good. Everyone told me how to dance.
Snow is great! I go outside and play with the snowballs and slide.
It was so fun! Now I’m so excited to go to school tomorrow because,
it’s fun. But, we don’t have school tomorrow…There is so much snow
outside. I’m little sad but, I can play with Aminah so that’s not so
bad. Aminah has so many movies! I watched “Shrek” and “Narnia”. It’s
good. I wish I can watch more movies. Aminah had soccer practice
yesterday. She is so good at soccer.
Iowa streets are bigger than Japan. Grocery stores are too big. I
think it’s will be hard to find something you want.
Do you know that today is Sakura’s
Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Mayu, Grade 7 |
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This picture is me
(Yurika) and
Marisa (my buddy)!
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Fun in the snow! |
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Getting warm with my new
friends! |
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1st
March, 2008
I'm Yukiko. I'm having a fun in Iowa!! I
got many friends at the school and everybody in school is very kind.
I'm very happy about that!!! In the school the class time is very
fun and it is very different to our school!
Yesterday at school we had a dance party!! It was very fun.....!!
I want to do that in our school too!!! Today I came back from school
and I sled with my buddies....Maghan....her sister ...and me!! It
was very fun!!! We made a snowman, and we had a so much fun!!!
We made 2 snowmen - they were huge ....I want to send you a picture
but I can't do now so I will send you another day!! I'm surprised
about the snow in Iowa!!! I'm very happy about that!! On Monday it
rained and snowed and school finished at like 1p.m.!! I'm very happy
about that!!
Everything - food and snow etc. is very great and yummy!!! I am very
happy happy happy!!!!! I like everything!!! I want to stay at Iowa
like......1mounth!!! or.....forever!!!! I'm having a great time at
Iowa!!! Have a great day and see you after spring holiday!!!!
Yukiko, Grade 7 |
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2nd March, 2008
This journal is a little late because I
went with my host family to the another city for two days until
yesterday night we just got back. It was really a nice trip!
Now I want to introduce my host family for you. I have a really nice
big host family. I'm very happy because this of trip. I have new dad
and mom and brothers and sister. I really love them. They have six
people in this family. Dad and mom are very kind. Nick is our older
brother who is 17 years old. Bigger than me by several months.
Jessica is my buddy is a kind and beautiful girl who is 16 years
old. And then there are two boys. One is 12 and another is 11.
Nathan and Nolan. They are very cute and active. This is my first
time to have younger brothers so I'm really excited. I like playing
games with them. We always play basketball or study Chinese or
Japanese together.
This photo is when I came to Iowa the
first night with my host family. Now I've lived in Iowa for one
week. During this week I learned a lot from my host family and
school. We studied about different cultures. And I also tried many
new things - like food, games, school and so on. I'm interested in
everything. This is a really good experience for me. I think I'll
remember it forever!
Crystal, Grade 10 |
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3rd March, 2008
Today, we went to school. We had Math,
Spanish, US Literature, Economics, Government, and Chemistry. In
Math class, we studied logarithms. I don't know what we learnt in
Spanish class. In Economics, students had test, so I read a book. In
Government we studied about congress, and we did a lab in Chemistry
class. The lab was about finding out the chemicals by looking at the
chemical reaction.
I met with Gen's buddy, but we didn't talk much. I think I should
tell I Gen saw his buddy when I get back to home. One of my buddy's
friend gave us a ride to get home. I had strange feeling to have a
ride which the driver is about my age. It was thrilling and
interesting. We will be going to have tomato soup for dinner. It
looked delicious!
Tomorrow we will be going to play badminton in PE class. I'm really
excited about it!
Hannah, Grade 10 |
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A break in the action at
the Rough Riders hockey game.
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Hockey is cool! |
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This is either a "peace
pose" or
their team is ahead by two points! |
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4th
March, 2008
I have stayed in Iowa for 1 week now,
and I'm having a lot of fun. My buddy and host family are really
nice to me so I am comfortable here. I'm happy that they are my host
family.
At school, there are many differences
from Japanese school. One is that there is no recess between classes
and one class is about 80 minutes long. I got tired and it took
little time for me to get used to it. My favorite subject is Basic
Foods. In Basic Foods we studied about the grain group and right
now, we are studying about fruits and vegetables. Not only studying
about foods, but we also get to cook and eat. Last week, we made
Mexican rice and cinnamon rolls. They were really good. I wish I had
this kind of class back home because I really like studying about
foods.
Other than school, I went shopping at the mall with my buddy. The
mall is big but it takes about an hour to get there since Iowa is
really small. We had a lot of fun shopping together and had great
time.
I think having a friend in another country is good thing because we
can know about different cultures. I only have less than 2 weeks
left until leaving my host family, but I want to make a lot of
memories with them :)
Yuka, Grade 10 |
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5th
March, 2008
My host family is so warm. They try
every time to make me talk. I enjoy staying with them very much. I'm
doing ok!! Iowa City High School is BIG! There are many people and
classrooms. Everyone is nice to me and some of them try to speak in
Japanese. One girl knows a drama in Japan - I was so surprised!
My buddy takes French class so I need to take French but I can't
understand anything. I'm so impressed how well they speak French. My
buddy also takes metal and glass class. This is a very interesting
class and not in our school. In the class we make stained glass!
This week City High started third trimester so I could join class
from the beginning. I've learned how to cut glass. It is so much
fun. We have that class first period everyday. Now I started cutting
the glass for my stained glass design. I hope I can finish it before
leaving. Sometimes after school we stay at school for drama costume
crew. We make costumes stage sets for drama. There are lots of
clothes in the costume crew's room and it is so hot. I made one
costume for coming drama. It was a very easy one.
Iowa has lot of snow. So Emma's father took Emma, Maisie and me
sledding. It was so much fun. We did sledding near a graveyard but,
sledding made me forget about graveyard. I wanted to make a snowman
but I chose not to because the snow is incredibly cold.
Today my host family invited Mr. and Mrs. Connor for supper. We had
some pasta, salad and brownies. Everyone talked a lot and it was fun
supper time. They explained
Japan more then I did. I think my host family understand more about
Japan.
All I want to say is I'm enjoying Iowa!!
Bye!,
Haruna, Grade 10 |
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7th March, 2008
Since my arrival in Iowa, I'm having a
great, meaningful time.
Initially, I was shy to make conversation with my buddy and their
family. But as the time went by, I became very open and now, my
buddy is like my real brother.
The Iowa City High School has many
remarkable differences compared with Japanese schools. The school's
facility is incomparable and the school progresses very briskly. It
was amazing that the students could select the class they take. The
school starts and finishes earlier than our school. It's so
efficient.
American students have a thoughtful mind and an unique identity.
Most of them are very friendly and delightful. They speak to me
openly so now I have some new friends in the school.
By experiencing a new world, I'm having
a gradual change in my mind. I'm hoping that I will be more mature
when the trip finishes.
Simon, Grade 10 |
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We went to a show called
the "No Shame Theater" at midnight.
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Having a burrito at a Mexican fast food
restaurant called "Panchero's" |
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An Arabic instrument
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8th
March, 2008
Today I went to many places. First I
went to the Water Park. It took about hour to go. I went with my
host mother and my buddy (twins). At that water park we did slides!
The most fun thing that I did was the slide. On this slide, we could
go with a maximum of 2 people. We rode on an inner tube. It's really
dark and steep!! It was kind of scary but it was really fun to do!
After we left the water park, we went to McDonald and get a Happy
meal toy for the scavenger hunt. The toy that we got was a monster
and it was really weird. Then we went to the tattoo parlor to find a
man who has a tattoo in his chest. We found two men who have tattoos
on their chests!!! I was really HAPPY! Next we went to the Police
Station to get handcuffed - one of the things we have to do for the
scavenger hunt. Woman officer came and handcuffed me. I was nervous
getting the handcuffed. The police officer who handcuffed me was
very kind and friendly. And we left the office and went back home.
Today I had many good experiences. It was really busy day but an
interesting and fun day!!
Sakura, Grade 7 |
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9th
March, 2008
Hello. I am Reena. I wanted to send my
Journal on March 7 on yahoo ID, but I'm not sure it was send. So I'm
sending it to you by hotmail today. On March 8~9 I went to St.
Louis!! We spend one night at there. We went all the way down to St.
Louis. It was very cool. Buildings were small and not so many
people. I bought a key holder for Dr. Bostwick!!! I am very happy to
go to Iowa. Thank you!
I'm having a wonderful time here. My English is be better then when
I was in Japan. I am also having great time at school too. I made
many friends and I'm writing a story in English too. So I'm having a
great time in Iowa. BYE!
Reena, Grade 7 |
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9th
March, 2008
Yesterday me and my buddy stayed
overnight at a friend's house. Her name is Jackie. Today, we left
Jackie’s house at noon. When we came back home, we went to a farm to
take pictures of us feeding livestock and a picture of me on the
tractor. I feed cow! I also saw a boargoat and chicken. I held a
baby goat. It was very cute. I had a good experience.
I’m having so much fun in Iowa. It’s colder than Japan and there is
lots of snow in Iowa but from yesterday, it is getting warmer. Ice
and snow started to melt. Also, all of the United States started
daylight savings time today. That is where you either turn the
clocks forward or backward depending on the season. We changed
forward because summer is coming. In Japan, we never change the time
so I felt little weird. My host families are very nice and I can’t
believe that I just have 1week left to stay. It’s very fun going to
school everyday and I like the time we have with my host family.
Yui, Grade 10 |
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10th
March, 2008
Only few days are left...(T_T) I want to
see with my family, but I don't want to miss my host family... I'm
having a lot of fun with Micaela and her family. They are very kind.
Friday's skate was very fun. But I'm little bit sad, because Micaela
got sick, so she didn't go to skate... On Saturday, Ai and I went to
a shop called Dreaming Bear. This shop sales craft and we can
decorate something at Dreaming Bear's Art studio. I decorated a
photo stand. I like to decorate things, so it was very fun!! I like
this shop very much. I wish we had this kind of shop in Japan!
Yesterday, I went to farm. I saw cows, goats, chickens, kittens and
dogs. I saw 2 day old goats! They were cute. They cried funny! I got
on to the tractor and took a photo for the scavenger hunt. The
tractor was very big! So, it was hard to get on. When I got back
home, Micaela's mother made a birthday cake for me!!!!! My birthday
is March 23rd, and I won't be here that day, so she made it today!
She made 2 kinds of cake. One is a Red cake, and another one is
Chocolate cake. The red cake's sponge is red, so it called a Red
cake. The Red cake is this house's tradition! I like Red cake very
much! Micaela's mother is very good at cooking! They gave me a
birthday present too! I like that present very much.
Today, I gave souvenir to my teachers. They were delighted, so I'm
happy. Teachers are very kind to me, I'm little bit sad that I can
take only 4 more day's of classes. After school, I went shopping to
buy some souvenir for my family. It took a lot of time to decide the
souvenir. I want to buy an IOWA T-shirt for me, but the size was too
big for me, so I can't buy. Today, it was warmer than usual.
Tomorrow, it will be warmer than today!
Time passes very fast. Only few days are left... I want to meet with
my family, but I don't want to miss my host family. I had very fun
time in last 2 weeks. I think I can have great time in next few
days!
Haruka, Grade 7 |
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My special birthday cake
from my host family. Wow! So many candles.
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On the farm with a baby lamb. |
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Hey this is easy! |
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11th March, 2008
I was surprised when�I arrived to
Chicago. It was very, very cold! Iowa airport was cold too. When I
met my host family, they were very kind to me. I knew that Ben (my
host's) granpa is a very good fisherman. So, I thought I can learn
American fishing from him. Also Ben's Father is a good skier. And
they said "On Friday, we are going night skiing." So, I was very
happy.
Students in school are very kind to me. There are two guys named
Logan and john. There are very kind. So, I like them very much. But,
first day of school, I saw a big�fight at gym class. One boy was
holding neck of other guy, pushing him to wall and punching him.
Ben's mother said we don't usually have fights in school.
Friday came and we went skiing. We skied from after school to about
midnight. We skied easy, medium, difficult, and most difficult
courses. The most difficult course had many bumps. It was very fun.
Last Saturday, we went to ice-fishing. We used lures. We caught some
bluegills and black bass.
Last Sunday we went
to church. At church, teacher in church gave me a bible. It was a
nice present. The Bible is very interesting. At night, we went
bowling with the church youth group.
Rintaro, Grade 7 |
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We went to a show called
the "No Shame Theater" at midnight.
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Having a burrito at a Mexican fast food
restaurant called "Panchero's" |
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An Arabic instrument
concert held in a local church. |
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Skating is easy if you
have friends!
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Wow! A new born lamb. |
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Hand made pizza is sooooo
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My host family meeting me at the airport.
They are so kind. |
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12th March, 2008
I'm enjoying this trip very much! I had
many unusual experiences too. I did most of the scavenger hunt I
think. I went to my school friend's house and sat on a tractor! Also
I feed corn to cows and pigs! So my hands stinks. I stroke cow's
head then the cow came closer to me! He has very bad breath. But I
like him. I got many IOWA T-shirts!! And one West branch T-shirt. On
the Scavenger Hunt list it said "A picture of an Iowan with a tattoo
on his chest." First my host family and I don't know who has a
tattoo on his chest but my buddy's mom remembered the P.E teacher
had a tattoo on his chest. So I ask to P.E teacher and finally I got
his picture!!! One day Tyler drank juice call Root Beer! He said
it's very good taste! Do you want to try? So I try some .It was very
bad!! It tasted like medicine!! I will never drink root beer!! I saw
many animals that we can't see in Japan!! I saw eagles, turkeys,
squirrels etc. I see many squirrels in front of my house! A very big
tree grows in front of my house and in the tree there is a
squirrel's nest! So every morning squirrels run cross the street and
run up to nest eating food. It's very cute!! I take icicle pictures.
I have never seen an icicle so I'm very surprised! My host sister
and I eat an icicle!! And every night we watch movies home. I
watched a movie call "RV". Have you ever seen this movie? It's a
very interesting movie I like it !! I enjoy school very much !! I
like American school!! All the students are very friendly! I make
many friends at school! I went to school dance party! At 7:00~10:00
o'clock. It's same time at dinner and shopping with everyone. I want
to go shopping and dinner but we can't dance in Japan at church. So
I was very worried about that but I decided to go dance party!
Finally I went to dance party. It was fun! I made many good memories
with my host family and also I made good memories with my school
friends too!! Thanks you!
Yudai, Grade 7 |
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